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Press Release Published: Sep 14, 2020

Postal Hearing Wrap Up: Democrats Refuse to Focus on Meaningful Postal Reform

WASHINGTON – Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Democrats held yet another hearing on their conspiracy theory about the Postal Service. Instead of holding a meaningful hearing to discuss real reform to improve the Postal Service’s operations, fiscal sustainability and service to Americans, Democrats held another partisan hearing to speculate and make unsubstantiated claims about the Postmaster General and invited no witnesses from the Postal Service.

At the hearing, Committee Republicans blasted Democrats for refusing to focus on meaningful postal reform and warned that these continued partisan attacks hurt America’s institutions.

In his opening statement, Subcommittee on Government Operations Ranking Member Jody Hice (R-Ga.) blasts Democrats for continuing to push a baseless conspiracy theory and refusing to work on meaningful reform to make the Postal Service work better for Americans.

“Because of better than expected revenue during the pandemic due to packages, the Postal Service reported that it has enough money to be solvent until August 2021. That’s 11 months from now. So there is no immediate need for a $25 billion bailout.

“However, as GAO reported in May, and as we have all known for more than a decade, USPS’s current business model is not financially sustainable given declining mail volumes, increased compensation costs, and rising unfunded liabilities.

“$25 billion in bailout money cannot fix these systemic problems, it will just push them a little bit down the road … But instead of having a serious discussion about proposals for a postal reform bill, we are using this valuable time to delve into conspiracy theories about the Koch family and to opine on Postmaster General DeJoy’s financial interests.”

Representative Fred Keller (R-Pa.) warns Democrats that their fear-mongering hurts America’s institutions.

“The Postal Service is a crucial part of our nation’s communications in Congress. Fear-mongering and sham hearings like this one today only weaken the public’s trust in such an important institution.”

Representative Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) points out that Democrats were silent during the Obama Administration when the Postal Service proposed to shutter thousands of post offices.

“This hearing is not about trying to resolve anything related to the Postal Service. If it were, this would have been done years ago during the Obama Administration when they were going to shut down 3,700 post offices.”

Further reading:

Ranking Member James Comer’s Fox News Op-ed: Why Dems’ USPS Controversy is a Manufactured Distraction

Debunking 5 Myths Democrats Are Peddling About the Postal Service

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